


Reforged In Shadows

by watanuki_sama



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Angst, But He Gets Better, Gen, I used a lot of italics, Kaiba is broken, Manga-canon, Punishment Game, Shadow World, Spoilers for original series and Dueling Kingdom, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-28
Updated: 2013-02-28
Packaged: 2017-12-03 20:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/702371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watanuki_sama/pseuds/watanuki_sama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cast into the dark, Seto has only the puzzle to work on. Only the puzzle to guide him home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reforged In Shadows

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted 03/12/2009 on ff.net under the penname 'EFAW'.
> 
> Spoilers for scenes from manga volumes five, and Duelist! volumes two, five, six, and eight (American, not the Japanese volumes).

_A glowing pentacle appeared in the box, and from the pentacle emerged Exodia, the Forbidden One. He hadn't known it was possible to summon Exodia. The chances were slim to none. And yet, just when Yuugi was about to be beaten, just when Seto had his three Blue-Eyes ready to attack, Yuugi managed to pull off the impossible; he summoned Exodia._

_Seto watched his Blue-Eyes vanish, and he was scared. He had never lost before. And from the dark look in Yuugi's eyes, he knew he wouldn't win this one. He wouldn't get out of this alive. Just like he hadn't intended to let Yuugi's grandfather get out alive._

_And then Yuugi pointed at him, the shape of an eye glowing cruelly on his forehead, and the last thing Seto remembered was the stern, commanding look on the smaller duelist's face. A look that was almost…regal._

_"Penalty game! Mind crush!"_

Seto liked puzzles. He liked putting things together, and he liked making things whole. So when he saw the puzzle pieces at his feet, he didn't wonder about why he was here, surrounded by darkness. He simply knelt down and picked two of the puzzle pieces up.

This puzzle was going to be hard. He knew that already, just by looking. He didn't know what it was going to turn out to be, and there were so many pieces to this puzzle. So many pieces that needed to be put together. But he liked challenges. He'd always liked challenges, and he loves puzzles. So he turned the two pieces in his hands, and he pressed them together.

There was a 'click' as the two pieces aligned and slid together.

And in the darkness, with a child-like delight that was almost forgotten, he smiled.

**XXXX**

_Mokuba crept into his brother's room. Seto was still in a coma, still sitting in that wheelchair staring sightlessly out the window. But that didn't deter him. He crept along the carpet, moving softly so he wouldn't disturb his brother, his hands clutching two pendants on string._

_The doctors said that Seto might never wake up, but Mokuba didn't believe that. Yuugi said Seto would. Yuugi said that Seto would finish the puzzle of his heart and come back. Yuugi said it with such certainty that Mokuba couldn't have claimed he was lying even if he tried._

_But it had been months and months, and Mokuba was sure that even the strongest people needed a little help to get in the right direction. So he was going to give his brother a little guide._

_"Morning, Niisama," he said, stepping in front of the wheelchair that held his brother's prone form. "I have a present for you." He held up the two pendants, opening them up so his brother's sightless eyes could see. "I made them from the picture of us playing chess. The one with you is for me, and the one with me is for you. This way, we always have a part of each other with us." He gently closed his brother's locket, carefully pulling the pendant over his brother's head._

_The pendant -shaped like a Duel Monster's card, he thought Seto would like that- settled right below Seto's collarbone, the perfect place. It was in the middle of his chest, next to his heart. The heart he was rebuilding._

_Smiling sadly, Mokuba pulled his own locket over his head, and he stared at the picture for a long time. He missed Seto. He missed the Seto in this picture, and he missed his big brother. He wanted Seto back, but not like the old him. He wanted a Seto that was like how he was when he was younger. When he still smiled, and played with Mokuba._

_His hand fisted around the locket, snapping it shut, and he looked at his brother's stunned, blank face. "I miss you, Niisama," he said softly, admitting his weakness even though he wasn't supposed to. "I miss you a lot."_

_He leaned forward. "But you'll be back. Yuugi said you would." He pressed a hand against Seto's locket. "And I'll be there if you need me." He smiled, and though his brother didn't smile back, but for a moment Mokuba pretended he did. He pretended that Seto's lips twitched and his eyes softened. Like they used to when he was little, when he still smiled._

_Then he took a breath._

_Time to stop pretending._

_He let his hand linger for just a moment longer, feeling the steady, slow, 'thump…thump…thump' of his brother's heart. His brother was alive. His brother was coming back to him._

_Mokuba pulled his hand away and left the room._

_Seto was coming back. Everything would be better then._

In the darkness, he continued to work, small hands picking piece after piece and bringing it to the ever-growing object in his hands. More often than not, he would drop the puzzle piece when he couldn't find a place for it on his puzzle, but every so often, there would be a moment of triumph, and he would click the piece into the puzzle and beam with delight.

It was happening slowly. So slowly. He wouldn't have thought he had the patience to just sit here, trying and trying and failing to fit the pieces together so often. But he continued to work. This was important. And Seto had the patience he needed now. There was nothing else to capture his attention, no need to be distracted by something else. Just the calm soothing shadows and the puzzle in his hand.

Dropping the piece currently in his hand, he reached for another one.

Then he paused, bringing his empty hand to rest over his heart, a curious look on his face. He could have sworn he felt something press against his chest. A soft, light weight, settling down over his chest, right next to his heart. But his hand settled on nothing but empty space.

Still, he felt comforted, like he wasn't doing this alone, and with renewed determination, he picked up the puzzle pieces again. Slow and steady. Piece by piece. He couldn't rush this. This was important, and he had to take his time.

After all, he had eternity to solve it.

**XXXX**

_On a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a tournament was being hosted. Within one of the many Battle Boxes scattered about the island, a fierce duel was raging, with the stakes higher than ever._

_Yuugi gritted his teeth, glaring at the puppeteer that held the likeness of Kaiba. This puppet, this thing was not Kaiba. He knew that. He knew that Kaiba wasn't the one he was fighting, but some sick demented version of Kaiba this person was manipulating. Still, it threw him a little._

_But even though he'd just destroyed the first Blue-Eyes, the second beast was looming before him, and he stared in horror. He had nothing in his deck that could defeat another Blue-Eyes. Nothing to win._

_He would lose, and KaibaCorp would go to Pegasus. All Mokuba had been working for would be lost. Everything would be lost._

_Yuugi closed his eyes, waiting for the attack._

Seto wanted to cry. He hadn't cried in such a long time, but he wanted to cry right now. He could feel the tears stinging behind his eyes, could feel the pressure building as the salty drops pressed forward, trying to be released. He refused to let them fall, biting his lip to keep them reigned in, but oh how he wanted to.

He didn't have enough pieces.

He'd worked. Worked and worked and worked on his puzzle, and he'd picked up the last piece at his feet and something soared in his chest. At last! At last he was done with this puzzle! At last he had his heart back together, and he could go home!

And he'd slid the last piece in, and…

And there was still an empty spot.

But there were no more pieces.

Trembling, he hung his head, holding the incomplete puzzle in his hands. He didn't understand it. How could he not have enough pieces? They all should have been there. How could he escape the darkness if he couldn't complete the puzzle?

Then, from the shadows, he heard a sound, the first sound he'd heard in this place. Hugging the puzzle to his chest, he brought his head up, looking around for the source of the sound. He could see nothing, but he could hear it. And it was getting louder.

A pained scream tore the darkness, rending it in half, and Seto staggered to his feet. He knew that sound. His dragons. His dragons were calling him. They were hurt and in pain and they were calling him.

Soft, child-like eyes hardened, and he took a step forward, then another, the sound of his dragons guiding him from the darkness. Step by step he moved forward.

Whether or not he'd finished the puzzle, he was leaving. Now.

His dragons needed him. His brother needed him.

It was time to wake up.

_In a Battle Box, a dragon hung in midair, to the questioning gazes of the onlookers. And as they stared, the dragon faded into smoke, disappearing from sight. How? How could it disappear?_

_Yuugi, the other Yuugi, stared, eyes wide. That was Kaiba's dragon._

_Kaiba…_

_In a mansion in Japan, a young man stood from a wheelchair, gazing out the window at the streaming sun. His mind was a blank, the past few months an empty shroud, but he'd never felt more clear-headed._

_Kaiba was back._

**XXXX**

_It had been a long trip here. First being betrayed by his guard, and then being forced to demolish the mutt and battle Yuugi in the same twenty-four hours had taken its toll. He'd almost thought he would lose the tower-top battle. He had been certain that Yuugi would follow through with his attack. And Seto had been willing and ready to leap from the tower if necessary. If he lost, there'd be no hope for Mokuba. He'd have lost everything._

_But Yuugi was a kind soul at heart, and he stopped himself. So here he was, sitting in front of Pegasus. If he won this duel, he could save his brother. He could take Mokuba back home._

_But how was he supposed to win when it was like his opponent could read his mind?_

_He watched as his Saggi the Dark Clown vanished into oblivion. He had lifepoints left, but he had no cards. He had his pride, but he couldn't win on pride alone._

_He'd failed Mokuba._

_Pegasus smirked, holding up the Soul Card, and Seto couldn't help the shudder that moved through his body. Then he saw Mokuba over Pegasus' shoulder, and in one last attempt to touch his brother, he reached out, calling his brother's name._

_Mokuba-!_

_"Penalty game! Mind card!"_

_Once more, Seto's soul was stripped from his body, and his mind sent back to that darkness._

When he opened his eyes, he was back in the familiar darkness, clutching the incomplete puzzle. He was no longer wearing a child's body, cast into his teenage self, and his heart carried a heaviness that no child could bear.

Seto looked down at the puzzle in his hands, fingering the empty spot in his heart.

"Mokuba…forgive me. I wasn't strong enough to save you."

For the first time in forever, Seto broke down, his soul crying the tears his body couldn't.

**XXXX**

_Once more he woke in an unfamiliar place that he didn't remember being in; this time, a dungeon. His guard -former guard- was there, unlocking the dungeon door._

_"Come out, Seto," the man called, and for a moment Seto felt a flash of irritation. How dare this traitor call him by his first name? What right did he have?_

_As quickly as it sparked up, it died down again._

_Saruwatari stepped back, pulling open the iron door. "It's all over. You're free." Pocketing the key, the guard turned, footsteps echoing behind his as he walked down the empty hall._

_Yes. It was all over. Everything he'd worked for, everything he'd tried so hard to accomplish was gone. Mokuba was gone. An unfamiliar despair swept over him, and he made no move to get up. What was the point? He'd lost. He couldn't save Mokuba. Once more, he couldn't save Mokuba. He had no tears to shed. He had no purpose anymore._

_He'd lost Mokuba._

_Blue eyes stared blankly ahead, and he was prepared to sit here, listless for the rest of his days. His attention was caught by movement in the doorway, though, and he looked up. He'd heard no one approaching. He assumed he would have._

_In the doorway stood a familiar figure, though one he hadn't seen in the mirror in years._

_His child-self smiled, reaching out a hand, and drawn upward by a will he wasn't sure was his own, Seto staggered forward, out of the cell and down the hallway. Like a dog leading a blind man, the vision of himself led him from the dungeons and out of the castle._

_Seto paused at the top of the steps, letting the sun splash across his face and taking a breath of the clear, clean air. It was a beautiful day._

_It didn't matter. He'd lost. He couldn't save Mokuba._

_He heard Mokuba's voice before he saw the boy._

_"Niisama!"_

_And he looked down and there he was, at the bottom of the stairs, clutching Seto's too-big briefcase. Yuugi and his gang of geeks stood nearby, but he paid them no mind. They weren't important._

_"Mokuba…"_

_"Niisama!"_

_"Mokuba!"_

_Faster than it took to blink, Mokuba bounded up the stairs, and Seto held his arms out, enveloping the boy in the type of hug he hadn't given since before they were adopted._

_He wasn't smiling. But it was close._

Beside them, unseen but for one pair of eyes, a young boy pulled from thin air the last piece of the puzzle. With a smile, he placed it into the waiting space in his heart, hearing the final piece click. He smiled in satisfaction.

Glancing away from the puzzle, he looked down below, meeting a pair of cerise-colored eyes. With a smile, he nodded his head, mouthing a silent thank-you.

And then, puzzle in hand, he disappeared into a wisp of smoke.

Seto Kaiba's heart was completed at last.

And this time, he did it on his own.


End file.
